Choose Life

Do you know that what you say about yourself goes a long way to determine your entire existence? Try listening to yourself. Who do you say you are? A weakling, infirmed, never-do-well pessimist or a bold, confident, vivacious, charismatic, optimistic person? The list of wonderful attributes God has deposited in you is endless.

There are people who delight in self-pity, they get easily depressed and their lives are usually determined by what people say about them.

Even in relationships, your utterances can make or mar your marriage or friendships.

When I hear people say, “I have so many problems here and there, there is no harmony in the family…I dread going to work everyday because of the problem I have with my boss, my account is always in the red…” I already know where their lives are heading to if there is no change in what they say about themselves.

Who are you? What do you say?

... For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45c

As students, it was normal for us to compete among ourselves academically. Prior to the examination, my classmates would ask me what my results would be and I would tell them I was not expecting more than 30% in each subject.

Why I predicted such poor results was to mislead them so that they would not be serious in their studies.

The day before the examination they would see me playing football and to them, I had no time for my books. When the results were released and they asked me how I fared, no matter the marks I obtained, I would tell them, “I am a failure, weak, simple and not like those brilliant students”.

After repeatedly uttering these words, I realized I had gotten used to them simply because I did not want to let my classmates know how brilliant I was! To me I thought I was being humble but in reality, it was false humility.

In the spiritual realm all that happens to us are the results of what we say or have said.

You often hear people say:

“Lord! What kind of country is this? What type of government is this?

Is it possible to live in this country? When I was in school, things were better, but now things have changed for the worst! Why am I such a failure?”

Today’s social and economic situations are the results of yesterday’s confessions.

Every sphere of any country is created by the confession of her people. Therefore what you see happening around you today is not unconnected with what you said in the past.

Hard to believe, you’ll say…

Do wives not paint dismal pictures of their husbands and children by what they say and the husbands and children end up seeing themselves in that light?

A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth. Proverbs 18:20a

You are the leading factor behind the outcome of your life. You either build it on the platform of optimism, or you destroy it by being pessimistic.

I have a friend, who some years ago barely had enough to eat but he believed so much in himself, at times, I wondered what was behind his confidence. After working for over a year, he managed to rent a room in a ghetto. When I went to see him, he said smiling, “Welcome to my palace. Over here is my kitchen, on the other side is my master bedroom, here is my sitting room and where you are standing is going to be my guest room.” I looked at him long and hard and suddenly burst into laughter. All he had in that tiny room was a mattress!

He never lost faith in himself and before the year ended, he had fully furnished the apartment.

Today, Eddie is building a lovely house in a highbrow area, enjoying the fruit of his confessions.

People who never see anything good in themselves, and definitely in everything around them, are people who do not believe in themselves. It is even sadder that Christians who read and are taught God’s words on a daily basis about the need to believe in their Maker, in His prophets and in themselves still fall into the habit of saying and believing all the wrong things about themselves!

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1: 7, 8